Can Professional Sales Training Improve Your Bottom Line?
In the business world, there is an often-cited adage that says "seller beware" when it comes to hiring sales professionals. The idea is that salespeople will do whatever it takes to get their clients. If they need a car loan, they'll lie and make up income numbers to get it - even if this means taking on credit cards with high interest rates just for the chance of making commissions. And then there's the issue of poor training in general; many people don't understand what a competitive advantage good selling skills can have for them in their businesses.
In this article, we're going to explore the issue of sales training at length. And we're going to do that in a couple different ways. First, we'll be discussing the benefits of providing better training to your sales team (in general). Second, we'll be looking at the specifics of what selling training looks like for your business and for others. And thirdly, we'll be giving some tips on how you can ensure your sales training efforts pan out during a down economy like this one.
In the end, our hope is that you end up with a better understanding of how important professional selling skills are to your company's success and also with more ideas on how you can improve salesmanship in your own workplace.
Why sales training is important even in a "good economy"
Sales trainers have long been able to prove a direct correlation between professional training and improved sales. Whether they're working with executives who need coaching on closed-ended questions or educating sales staff on how to best approach potential buyers, these professionals can point to a percentage of their clients who saw significantly more success after taking the programs they offer. And from the business owner's perspective, this should be incredibly enticing. If you give your salespeople better selling skills, it stands to reason that you'll see more success than if you were just to let them fly on their own instincts.
Of course, if this graph were to be extended out across the entire sales range, the numbers will look much more dramatic. The bottom line is that you can't just let your sales staff go at it solo and expect to see a big bump in profits. And yet many businesses still don't provide their employees with any general training before they're thrown out into the cold.
Is providing better sales training worth it? You tell 'em;
In good economies, giving your sales staff some type of professional selling skills-training is likely to yield positive results for your business. In bad ones, you're even more likely to see positive returns. The idea here is simple: Sales ability is one of the most important factors in how much money your business makes. So by taking on a little extra training expense and giving your salespeople skills they need to succeed, you can make your company a lot more profitable (which, in turn, will increase both its value and its available employee compensation).
You need to be careful that you don't overspend or waste too much money on this though. Professional sales training can range from the cost of a few thousand dollars up into the many millions. Of course, companies that spend in the millions would likely see a significant return on their investment and therefore have a good reason to spend that amount of money. But if you're just looking to provide general training, you're going to want to keep your spending down. You don't need to follow suit with the big spenders and their million-dollar training budgets. Instead, look for some of the creative ways that we have listed later in this article that can help you save money while still allowing your sales people to receive good training.
Another thing you'll want to keep an eye on is whether or not your sales staff is open to professional selling skills training. If you're going to take the time and money to invest in your employees, they should be interested in improving their selling skills. If you have one of those employees who would rather watch paint dry than go to a sales training seminar, it's better not to waste the training budget on them.
As a final point, even if you do provide your staff with good sales training, they'll need some time to put this new knowledge into practice. So when you do provide your staff with new sales training seminars or courses, give them at least a couple months before acting on whether or not these programs have been successful for your business.
What does effective sales training look like?
So far, we've established that sales training is important. And if you're looking to provide your employees with the skills they need to succeed in selling, you should know that this isn't something that should be taken lightly. If you go rushing into the professional sales training market with little or no idea of what you're doing, your business could end up making some bad choices and wasting a lot of money. You'll pay for training, but you won't see any returns.
To avoid this type of outcome, you will need to do your homework first. This means taking some time to figure out how different types of training are going to benefit your sales staff and come up with a game plan on how you can best approach training. This way, when you do start covering up the expenses associated with this type of employee development, you'll know exactly where all the money is going.
For example, many businesses choose to start off their employee-training programs by providing everyone with a comprehensive overview of the basics (the "basics" can include everything from goals and expectations to the purpose of each product or service that you offer). This is a good way to start because it will get the whole group on the same page. It's a good place to start because it gives the employees a chance to see what other sales people are doing and what has worked for them. There are many other examples that you can use from society, like how schools or camps teach basic cooking or first aid skills before moving on to more advanced topics.
Over time, though, you may want to take things in a different direction by providing your sales staff with more specialized training. In this case, you would provide more depth into certain selling techniques and attract more high-level buyers who want even more detailed information on how these products or services can be used for their specific needs.
Conclusion
Start your sales training budget now
If you're ready to start upgrading the selling abilities of your employees, then it's time to start planning and setting aside some money for training. Whether or not you choose one of the many types of professional sales training programs that are available (we've listed them in this article), it will cost you some money. But if you do my research and make good use of a few innovative approaches, you'll be able to avoid overspending and still have plenty of trained sales staff ready to turn your company into a more profitable business. It's up to you.
If you have any questions about professional sales training, feel free to contact me directly .